In January, Priya departed the village (Picture: ITV)
With the departure of Priya Kotecha (Fiona Wade) and her daughter Amba (Ava Jayasinghe) in January, a beloved and longtime member of the Emmerdale community left for a new life and an interesting new profession in London.
The chance presented itself after a traumatic occurrence at Take A Vow, when a tiny fire brought up painful memories for Priya of the tragic episode in the labyrinth fire that had left her permanently traumatised. Priya was prepared to accept the job offer since this life-altering experience made her realise she had to go on with her life.
Fiona used social media to share her sentiments about quitting the programme she had worked on for more than ten years.
“Playing Priya Sharma has been the most fantastic 11 years, so saying goodbye to my Emmerdale family wasn’t easy,” she remarked. I’ve enjoyed my role as Priya, and I’m grateful to @emmerdale & @itv for the amazing chances they’ve provided me with throughout the years. Such a blessing of a career, and such beautiful memories.
“I’d want to thank Reece Dinsdale, Abe Jukes, and @gsiougas for being my lovely directors over my last week. I appreciate your kindness and excellent guidance constantly. Thank you to everyone on the emmerdale team; you are really incredible! Thank you so much for being there, my lovely friends, it meant the world.
“To my amazing Sharma family, @chrisbisson @bhaskerpatel @rebeccasarker @rik makarem #TrudieGoodwin” You are aware of my affection for you. I appreciate everything. And thank you to everyone who has watched Emmerdale throughout the years for their support. ❤️
“Let’s go on to the next chapter!”
Fiona has now given some insight into what she believes her “next chapter” would feature, telling Hello! magazine that one of her goals is to act in a historical drama.
Because of her background, she had previously said that historical drama was out of the question for her. The mother of Fiona is from the Philippines. But right now, I really want to do it. It’s fantastic that everything is so different.
Even though she admitted to loving her time in Emmerdale, she felt the need to force herself to go.
As an actor, you don’t often have that much time to really create a role and give it your own personality. She said, “I shall miss it as well as the lovely, fantastic individuals I worked with who I will always consider my friends.
“I’ve always been ambitious, and even when it scares me, I prefer to move outside of my comfort zone. Fear is normal. What matters is what you do with it. I think you should reflect on your life and realise that you lived it fully.